Abstract
This chapter examines the little-known area of the International and Transnational Consumer Law on sustainable consumption. Sustainable consumption, as such, has not attracted much academic consideration, despite the increasing prominence that environmental awareness and protection plays in international legislative and regulatory efforts. Nonetheless, most of the international efforts fail to effect an actual, direct encouragement of sustainable development. The fatal flaws of these efforts are mainly their non-binding nature and lack of sufficient consensus between the countries to compromise and impose more radical reform. Therefore, international consumer law on sustainable consumption is presently confined to the UN Guidelines on Consumer Protection and its precatory clauses.
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Notes
- 1.
UN ECOSOC Res E/1999/INF/2 (26 July 1999), Guidelines on Consumer Protection, (1999 Guidelines), Cl 42.
- 2.
Consumers International (2016), p. 10.
- 3.
Schroeder and Anantharaman (2017), p. 4 (emphasis added).
- 4.
Schroeder and Anantharaman (2017), p. 6.
- 5.
See: Durovic and Micklitz (2017).
- 6.
UNGA Res 39/248 (16 April 1985) A/RES/39/248, (1985 Guidelines), available at: http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/39/a39r248.htm. Accessed 10 Feb 2019.
- 7.
1985 Guidelines, Annex, cl 1.
- 8.
1985 Guidelines, cl 1.
- 9.
1985 Guidelines cl 1(c).
- 10.
See 1985 Guidelines, cl 3(c).
- 11.
See 1985 Guidelines, cl 33(f).
- 12.
See for example 1985 Guidelines cl 4, 15 or 19.
- 13.
1999 Guidelines, cl 4.
- 14.
1999 Guidelines, cl 5.
- 15.
1999 Guidelines, cl 24, cf 1985 Guidelines, cl 33(f) where information about environmental impacts of consumption where only considered important when ‘appropriate’, and not absolutely.
- 16.
1999 Guidelines, cl 42.
- 17.
1999 Guidelines, cl 43.
- 18.
UNGA Res 70/186 on Consumer Protection (22 December 2015) A/RES/70/186 (2015 Guidelines).
- 19.
2015 Guidelines, cl 6.
- 20.
2015 Guidelines, cl 11.
- 21.
2015 Guidelines, cl 49–62.
- 22.
Gawith (2010), p. 484.
- 23.
Weidenbaum (1987), p. 430.
- 24.
Weidenbaum (1987), p. 425.
- 25.
Weidenbaum (1987), p. 425.
- 26.
Peterson (1987), pp. 434–435.
- 27.
Peterson (1987), p. 434.
- 28.
Peterson (1987), p. 434.
- 29.
Peterson (1987), p. 436.
- 30.
Peterson (1987), p. 437.
- 31.
Gawith (2010), p. 484.
- 32.
Gawith (2010), p. 485.
- 33.
Gawith (2010), p. 485.
- 34.
Gawith (2010), p. 486.
- 35.
OECD (2000), p. 9.
- 36.
OECD (2000), p. 9.
- 37.
OECD (2000), p. 3.
- 38.
Gawith (2010), p. 488.
- 39.
Gawith (2010), p. 489.
- 40.
Pinna (2002), p. 325.
- 41.
Regulation 1215/12 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters [2012] OJ L 351/1 (Brussels Regulation).
- 42.
Gawith (2010), p. 496.
- 43.
Gawith (2010), p. 496.
- 44.
Organization of American States (n.d.), ‘Historia del Proceso de las CIDIP’s’ (unknown date of publication), accessed July 15, available at: https://www.oas.org/dil/esp/derecho_internacional_privado_desarrollo.htm. See also http://www.oas.org/en/sla/dil/private_international_law_history_cidip_process.asp for an English version.
- 45.
Fernández Arroyo (2009), p. 411.
- 46.
Ibid, p. 418.
- 47.
Ibid, p. 419.
- 48.
Ibid, p. 422.
- 49.
Permanent Council of the OAS and Comission of Judicial and Political Affairs (2011).
- 50.
Gawith (2010), pp. 488–489.
- 51.
Delisle and Trujillo (2010), p.160.
- 52.
Consumers International, ‘Who We Are’: https://www.consumersinternational.org/who-we-are/, accessed on 9 February 2019.
- 53.
CI ‘Consumer Protection’ at: https://www.consumersinternational.org/what-we-do/consumer-protection/sustainable-consumption/, accessed on 9 February 2019.
- 54.
Gawith (2010), p. 479.
- 55.
Delisle and Trujillo (2010), p. 159.
- 56.
Protehro et al. (2011), p. 35.
- 57.
Gawith (2010), p. 476.
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Durovic, M., Lech, F. (2020). International and Transnational Consumer Law on Sustainable Consumption. In: Amaral Junior, A.d., Almeida, L.d., Klein Vieira, L. (eds) Sustainable Consumption. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16985-5_2
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